lespedeza

lespedeza or bush clover, any plant of the genus Lespedeza, leguminous herbs or undershrubs of the family Leguminosae (pulse family); native to North America, Asia, and Australia. Lespedezas are valuable for hay and pasturage and, in conservation, for game cover and erosion control. They are hot weather plants that grow well in poor soils. The Asian species, e.g., the common lespedeza, or Japanese clover (L. striata), are the ones usually cultivated, and several have been naturalized in the SE United States. Lespedeza is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Leguminosae.

Lespedeza is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the pea family Fabaceae, commonly known as Bush clover or Japanese clover. The genus is native to warm temperate to subtropical regions of eastern North America, eastern and southern Asia and Australasia.

Cultivation and uses

Some species are grown as garden or ornamental plants, and/or are used as a forage crops, notably in the southern United States, and as a means of soil enrichment and for prevention of erosion. Some are invasive species in some areas.

Lespedeza bicolor var. japonica has been shown to contain l-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (lespedamin).

References

External links

• Sericea in conservation farming (Lespedeza Cuneata) hosted by the UNT Government Documents Department